𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 | 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻

IT'S ONE-FIFTEEN IN THE afternoon when the crime technicians finish at the murder scene. Katherine peers over at the kitchen benchtop and squints her eyes at the print beside the evidence marker. The remnants of a footprint are a dusty orange, almost like a sunset has bled onto the marble. "Okay, so the perp came in through the window," she begins, pointing over to the kitchen sink that is bathed in shattered glass. "Left the muddy red footprint..."

"And apparently had sex with the dish rack," Jake adds, gesturing to the damaged rack beside the sink.

Amy points down to the ground. "Shell casing found here. Two shots," she observes. "Bang, bang," she says, pointing into the kitchen with her fingers shaped into a gun.

"Hot," Kat whispers to her friend. Amy rolls her eyes but can't hide her smile.

Jake folds his notepad and pockets it. "Great work, detectives," he praises them. His grin returns and he throws both the women something. "You get a tie!" Amy and Kat hold up their striped ties, the former looking at him in irritation.

"Hey, this looks like-"

Kat doesn't get to finish her sentence as Charles suddenly exclaims with wide eyes, "Hey, that's mine!" His eyes widen further when he studies Amy's. "Both of those are mine! You took them from my desk," he states.

"That's right, Charles," Jake confirms. He takes another tie out of his jacket pocket. "Good solve. Tie for you!"

"Thanks!" Charles grins. Rosa chuckles.

"When did you become Mary Poppins?"

Jake raises his eyebrows at his childhood best friend. "Maybe I've always been her and you only just noticed." Kat rolls her eyes. "Now, everyone be sure to put those on because it's impossible to solve crimes unless you're wearing a tie." He peers around the corner, just double checking that Holt isn't listening in.

"Lay off the captain," Amy scolds him. "That man is gonna be my rabbi."

"Okay, first of all, when you use the word 'rabbi,' you know that turns me on and that's unfair in the work environment."

Kat snickers, although her amusement is short lived as Amy elbows her stomach. "Ow, dude!"

"Secondly," Jake continues. "Your rabbi is a pain in my ass."

Charles nods. "Yeah, he's a little too serious." He turns to the detective standing beside him, focused on reading what had been stolen from the apartment. "What do you think, Rosa?"

"He seems cool."

"Yeah, he seems cool," Boyle says with a nod. "I agree."

Rosa clears her throat. "Looks like the perp stole a computer, a watch, and a Jamon Iberico ham, valued at- what? Six-thousand dollars."

"Wait, did you just say six-thousand dollars?"

Jake vigorously nods and points to Kat. "Yuh, huh. Six-thousand dollars for a ham?"

"Jamon Iberico is an amazing cured ham from Spain. They had it at my uncle's funeral. I gorged myself at that funeral. I mean, I was constipated for three days."

Katherine grimaces. Jake nods with his hand underneath his chin, an entertained smile on his face. "Wow, that's a great story, Charles, thank you." Boyle giggles. "All right, listen up everybody. Better contact Captain Holt, let him know we got a ten-tie situation."

"Oh, God, not again," Kat murmurs. Amy's pursed lips upturn into another smug smile.

"Speaking of ties, where's yours, meep morp?"

Jake tilts his head at the familiar voice. "This is fantastic," he mutters to himself, just loud enough for Amy and Kat to hear him. Peralta turns around, plastering a charming smile on like earlier that day. "Captain! Hey! Welcome to the murder. What are you doing here?"

Holt looks between the five, his expression deadpanned and serious. "I like to know what my detectives are up to. That okay by you?"

Peralta nods. "Yep."

"Take Santiago and knock on doors. See if the neighbours heard anything."

Jake's eyebrows raise. "Door duty? It's a waste of time," he complains.

Holt resumes like he never said anything. "Diaz, Linetti, Boyle, check in with the coroner. Report back to me in an hour." The three nod at him.

Once the captain walks away and disappears around the corner, Jake sighs heavily. "That went well."

"No, it didn't," Holt calls out.

Kat pats his shoulder. "You're having a day, aren't you?"

"He's got, like, super hearing," Jake comments in disbelief.

Shortly after, Rosa walks out of the apartment without a word, only nodding her head at Jake and Amy as a form of goodbye. Charles hesitates for a single second, then takes off after the woman like a racehorse leaving its start-box. "I guess that's my cue," Kat observes. "Good luck," she bids her friends. As she exits the building, she's hit with a breeze that makes her pull her navy blazer around her body tighter.

She's there just in time to overhear the conversation Boyle is having with Rosa. Kat slows her walking so she doesn't seem to be intentionally eavesdropping. "Um, I just happened to notice that there's an, uh, old movie festival playing at the film forum this week." Charles stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Wanna go?"

Rosa pauses for a second. "Sure." She notices the blonde coming up behind them.

Charles' eyes are wide as he stumbles over the fact she had said yes. "Cool! Awesome. There's a bunch of movie options. I'll probably just go with something classic, like Citizen Kane."

Katherine grimaces and stops beside him. "Yikes, Citizen Kane is one of the worst movies to ever exist," she argues.

Rosa shuts her car door and nods in agreement. "Citizen Kane is terrible. Pick a good movie," she tells him.

Charles looks between them and hums. "Yeah, good call. Smart." When the engine to Diaz's car starts up, he smiles giddily and walks off to his own vehicle.

Kat purses her lips as she and Rosa lock eyes. The woman arches a brow expectantly. "Uh, hey, is it okay if I get a ride with you? I came with Amy," she tentatively questions.

Rosa nods almost immediately. "Sure."

She waits a second, just in case Diaz would regret her answer and change it, but when Rosa clears her throat, Kat gratefully smiles. "Thanks."

As the car pulls off the kerb of the road, the dark-haired woman casts a brief glance to the person in her passenger seat. "Why didn't you go with Boyle?"

"Because then I wouldn't have someone to talk to about how shit Citizen Kane is." Rosa's lips twitch, and Kat swears she sees something that resembles the smallest of smiles. But then it's gone as if nothing had happened. "So, why-"

"No."

Kat's eyes widen a fraction. "I'm taking that as the topic is completely off limits?"

"Yep."

"You won't even tell me why you're going out with him?"

"Nope."

"Okay, but-"

"If you say another word, I will kick you out and make you walk."

"Copy that."

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

With a manila file in her hand, Kat leads Rosa and Charles through the bullpen and over to her desk where Amy and Jake are already seated, Captain Holt conversing with them; no doubt about how the door duty went. "Okay, so," she begins. She opens the file and flips through to the autopsy report they had been shown earlier in detail. "Nothing surprising from the coroner. A few gunshots to the shoulder and chest."

Jake huffs a sigh. "None of the neighbours heard or saw anything," he informs the group. "And what's worse, Santiago struck out with a ninety-two year old."

Amy quickly looks up to Holt. "That is not accurate, sir."

"Wait, you hooked up with him?" Jake exclaims incredulously. "Ugh!"

Charles and Rosa suppress their smiles whilst Amy rolls her eyes in annoyance. Kat locks eyes with her best friend and mouths, Tell me everything.

"All right, hit the pawn shops and canvass the neighbourhood," Holt instructs. He points to Peralta's shirt. "And while you're out, you can buy yourself a tie."

The detective is fast to provide a retort. "Oh, actually, sir... I'm wearing one right now." He stands up and rolls his shirt up to reveal a tie around his waist. "Check it out!" He grins. "Secret tie."

Holt rolls his eyes. "First of all, I think you're kind of overdoing it with the manscaping." Jake looks down in disbelief. "But more important, Detective, why do you refuse to take my orders seriously?"

Katherine tuts in disapproval and shakes her head. Jake's eyes widen to the size of golf balls as he turns to look at her.

"Does anyone here know why it's so important to me that you all dress appropriately?" Everyone stays silent. "Hm. Five highly trained detectives, and not one of you can solve this simple mystery." Holt nods to himself. "I wanna be briefed on any new developments. Any questions?"

Jake raises his hand. "I was gonna ask you if you thought I was doing too much manscaping, but we solved that one, so I'm good." As the squad disperses back to their desks, Kat takes another look at the list of items that had been stolen from the victim's apartment. Peralta wheels his chair around to her. "Watcha thinking, Katie?"

She frowns. "It's just this whole ham thing. It's weird."

"Yeah, I know right? Who the hell would buy a ham for six grand?"

"Yeah, but it's not just that." Jake tilts his head to the side for her to go on. "There was this expensive TV that was left. And I mean really expensive. Why would the perp take the ham and watch, but not the tech?"

His eyebrows furrow. "Good point. Hey, Charles!"

It takes a few seconds for Boyle to run over. "What's up?"

Kat folds her arms across her chest and leans back in her chair. "The fancy ham stuff. Know anything about it?"

Charles nods with small smile, happy to bring out his vast knowledge about food. "Jamon Iberico," he says.

"Yes," Jake confirms. "The perp left a really expensive TV, but then stole ham?"

"It makes zero sense," Kat adds. "Like, none at all. Is there a place near the crime scene that sells them?"

Boyle's eyes squint in thought before he points between the two in realisation. "Beneficio's might."

Jake stands up and grabs his leather jacket off the back of his chair. "Let's go then."

Kat and Charles share a look with each other. "Jake, we gotta brief Holt first," she reminds him. She's not even remotely surprised by his answer.

"We'll brief him after we catch the guy," Peralta rebuts. He starts to walk out the bullpen.

The remaining pair hesitate once more and share another look. Charles throws his hands up and follows his best friend. Kat groans. "Oh, my God, this is so gonna bite me in the ass," she mutters whilst jogging to catch up.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Beneficio's isn't somewhere Katherine would say she would go on the regular. The place is labelled as something called a 'Gourmet Market,' so she should've had somewhat of an idea of what she would be walking into. She had no idea whatsoever of what she would be walking into. However, as the multitudes of scents hit her nose as she follows in behind Jake and Charles, Kat understands. And boy does she love it. Her eyes bulge in awe as they walk past a large display freezer holding dozens of gelato flavours. She peers a little closer and has to gawk. She doesn't even like sweet potato, let alone can she try to imagine it in ice-cream.

Jake glances over his shoulder to find her marvelling at the variety of fresh foods and goods, and rolls his eyes as he hurries back and grabs onto her arm. "Do you remember why we're here?"

"Ice-cream?"

"Murder, Kat, murder," he states in exasperation. "God, why do I always have to be the responsible one?"

She snaps out of her daze and turns to stare at him in disbelief. "Are you k-"

"Hey, guys," Charles interrupts. He points over to the deli counter, which seems to be where majority of the workers are currently stationed. "Who do you wanna pick?"

Kat raises her eyebrows as they pause at a distance away. "Lucky dip?"

Jake shrugs. "Sure." He squints his eyes and points a finger to the counter, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. "Eeny, meeny, miny... Moe! Guy with the buzzcut."

"Huh... He looks really friendly," Kat murmurs. She sighs as the two men stride over, their professional demeanours back once more.

Holding his badge up, Jake nods at the butcher in greeting. "NYPD." The employee narrows his eyes as he looks between the three detectives. "We have reason to believe your market here might link to an ongoing murder investigation. Do you know anything about Jamon Iberico? Pretty nice lookin' ham."

The man places his hands on the counter and scowls at them. "My name is Ratko," he states in a heavy accent. "I don't know anything."

Kat glances to Charles and narrows her eyes as she looks back at him. "Okay, so you don't sell it? Or you've never heard about it? 'I don't know anything' is pretty broad."

Ratko turns his steely eyes onto her. "I don't know anything," he repeats.

"Oh, okay." Jake takes out the photo of the victim and holds it up. "You recognise this guy?" Ratko looks to the side, his fingers drumming on the countertop. "Henry Morgenthau?"

"No."

The detectives share a look of amusement. "Hey, Ratko? You might wanna try actually looking at the picture for a start," Kat suggests.

He turns his head back. "I don't know him," he answers shortly. "I don't know what happened. No more questions."

Jake pockets the picture. "Well, why don't I run a scenario past you, Ratko, and you tell me what you think?" Kat rubs her hands together with anticipation, a small smile making its way onto her face. "You do know Morgenthau. He came in here and tried to sell you some hams. You knew they were worth a lotta money, so you tried to steal them from him when he wasn't home."

"Oo!" Kat exclaims. "Can I finish?" Jake grins. "Plot twist," she drawls out. If it's possible, Ratko's scowl deepens. "He was home, so you shot him!"

"Mhm. Does that sound familiar?" Ratko's eyes dart between them. "Uh, maybe some role play will jog your memory?"

Charles nods eagerly. "Great idea."

"Okay, yeah."

Kat holds her hands up and takes a step to the side. "This one's all you, boys."

Boyle points to himself whilst glancing back to Jake. "So I'm-I'm Ratko."

"No, no, I'm Ratko."

"Come on. I'm always the victim."

She clears her throat impatiently. "Gentlemen."

"Yeah," Jake whispers. "I'm not doing this with you right here."

"Fine, fine," Charles reluctantly gives in. "Oh! I'm Henry Morgenthau, owner of delicious and expensive hams." He raises his brows at Jake. "Don't I know you from the grocery store?"

With his fingers mimicking a gun, Peralta raises his hand to Charles' forehead. "Kill! And scene," he finishes, spreading his hands with a smile.

As they turn back to Ratko, Kat's only given a few seconds to applaud before the butcher sweeps the countertop, sending a group of products and containers into the three. As they recompose themselves quickly, they watch Ratko sprint. "NYPD!" Kat's voice booms across the store. "Everybody down now!" With their guns drawn, the detectives split up from one another with the attempts to find the man they've now lost sight of.

"Boyle, get the door!" Jake yells back.

"On it!"

Peralta locks eyes with Katherine and uses a hand to signal for her to go down the aisle opposite to him. "Hey, Ratko," she calls out. "We only wanna talk, buddy, nothing more-" She grunts as said man rams into her with, ironically, a large ham. Losing grip of her gun from the attack, she braces herself for the shove as he grabs onto her arms and slams her into the nearby shelving. "Aw, man," she groans in pain.

Ratko wastes no time rushing out as she gathers herself, however, his plans fall short as he runs into Jake. Peralta seems to be caught off guard, giving Ratko the perfect chance to do something similar like a minute ago. Jake's gun is tossed metres away, and the two men grapple one another to try and get the upper hand. Ultimately, Ratko has the advantage in the weight and muscle department as he throws Jake into the nearby Charles. Both men are sent crashing to the floor.

"Who's got Ratko?" Kat questions loudly. She turns the corner and spots her friends on the floor with their backs pressed up against stacks of canned food. Her eyes widen when loaves of bread and various cheeses are hauled toward them. "Ah."

"Ow, Ratko, ow!" Jake exclaims.

Charles ducks. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Ratko!"

Jake bats a block of cheese away. "I'm getting mad!"

"That's a waste of Manchego!" Charles yells angrily.

"Really?" Kat questions him incredulously. They both turn to her in surprise. "What are you idiots doing? Let's go flank him!"

Nodding hastily in agreement with her, the trio spread out again to find the best possible way to corner their target. It's only a minute later that Kat hears the shrieks, all be them slightly muffled, from Charles. And it sounds like it's coming from somewhere a lot like where the gelato is.

"Jake! Kat! Little help!" The two mentioned reach the deli counter at the same time, both widening their eyes when they see Ratko holding onto Charles and stuffing his face into the ice-cream. "Ratko! He's not going anywhere!" Jake slides over the counter toward the pair and Kat purses her lips as she runs around the other side to hopefully cut him off.

"Ratko!"

"I got him!" Charles exclaims, still face first in the delicacy. "I got him!"

As soon as Ratko sees the two detectives heading toward him, he drops Charles and makes a beeline for the exit. Kat swallows as she notices the butcher has managed to grab multiple bottles of some sort of liquid, then he hauls them backward at her to escape. The glass shatters onto the floor and the syrup quickly spills into large puddles. It's too late for Kat to stop running. "Fuck!" 

The front door slams shut.

Surrounded in masses of vanilla syrup and glass, she heaves a sigh and wipes her hands on her shirt. From her spot on the ground, she looks over to Jake and Charles; they're just as frustrated as she is. Although, she's finding it a little hard to take Boyle seriously when he's coated in chocolate and pistachio ice cream.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

"So no, I did not brief you. And yes, he did get away. But some bonus good news... I got you hazelnut!" Jake reveals the cup of ice-cream from behind his back and tentatively places it on Holt's desk. "And... a little spoon there for you."

Kat looks over to Charles. They both look over to their captain whose face looks almost identical to a thunder cloud.

They're in deep shit.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Turns out it was just Jake that was in deep shit.

At first it didn't make sense why she and Charles didn't get the brunt of it, any of it actually, until Jake explained to them that after being left alone with Holt and Terry, he had told the superior officers that his friends had profusely argued that the right thing to do would be to loop in their captain from the beginning. He had taken all the blame. Apparently, he didn't want them getting punished for something wasn't their fault in the first place. All of the above could be intensely argued in a debate, but instead Kat settled for that she would owe Jake a favour. A huge favour.

After taking multiple showers at home and scrubbing her hands about a thousand times, she admits defeat that she won't be able to get the scent of vanilla off her body any time soon. Gina being back in her own apartment was both a blessing and a curse. Sure, the younger Linetti might find her sister's presence irritating sometimes, but there's also a strange comfort in finding her irritating.

Kat found herself missing Gina Linetti in her own home. Because when she was finally left with just herself and her golden retriever, Bear, she realised just how much she loves being in the company of someone other than herself. Not many people, of course, just a few. A few of the people she cares most about. Her occasionally irritating sister falls under that category.

Upon arriving at work the following day, Kat is barely given a second to place her bag down at her desk before Amy strides over to her and grabs onto her hand. "Hi, Ames. How did you sleep? How are you? What happened to morning greetings?"

The dark-haired woman glances over to her as they head down the corridor outside the bullpen. "Hey, sorry, it's just, you have to see this." It's then that Kat discovers that her friend is dragging her along to the records room to see Jake fulfil his punishment in person.

"Is he seriously assigning me to the records room?" Peralta slams a stack of paper onto the desk. Surrounding himself, the two women, and Terry are cabinets upon cabinets of documents and files. "I mean, why do we even have a records room?" The question seems to be directed mostly to Jeffords. "Computer's been invented, right? I didn't dream it?"

Amy stifles her laughter. Kat pulls a sympathetic face. "You're lucky, man," Terry tells him. "I wish I could get assigned here full-time."

The blonde looks over to him questioningly. "You really mean that, Sarge?"

"Hell yeah, I do." Terry looks around in satisfaction. "You could not be farther from the action."

Jake sighs. "Sergeant, you know me. I have more arrests than anyone. Will you please tell the captain how dumb it is to lock his best detective in a file cabinet?"

Amy holds a hand up. "Second best," she corrects.

"You're wrong about Holt," Terry counters seriously. "That man has forgotten more about being a cop than you will ever know. In nineteen-eighty-one, he caught the Disco Strangler."

Kat's jaw drops. "Oh, dang," she whispers.

"Wow," Jake admits.

"The man is the real deal. You need to listen to him," Terry stresses.

As he walks away, Amy folds her arms, a smug smile pulling at her lips. "Gonna be hard to win our bet when you're on the bench, Peralta." She holds up a finger. "Although I did start a new category." She raises a notepad with a similar table drawn like the one in the briefing room. Underneath her name is a zero, and Jake's a one. "'Murderers We Let Go,'" she reads aloud. Jake looks at Kat with a deadpanned expression. "And look at that! You're winning! Have fun with your files," she teases.

"Yeah, you know what, I will have fun with my files! Have fun with your face!" Jake attempts to slam the door behind Amy, however, it bounces back toward him. He scowls. "Slam! That was a slam!"

Kat clicks her tongue. "Oh, man ... There are so many things wrong with those last ten seconds."

He groans. "Oh, my God, I'm going to die in here. I'm going to die in the records room. The records room, Kat!" Jake walks over and drops his head onto her shoulder.

She pats his back comfortingly. "You know, this could be made easier if you just let me take the punishment with you." He lifts his head. "Then you could have a friend to die with in here."

"No. Save yourself before the records take you too."

Kat rolls her eyes. "Jake, come on, Charles and I are equally as responsible in this as you. We let you go off. We could've gone to Holt, and we didn't."

"Yeah, but..." He wiggles his fingers. "Peer pressure."

She sighs. "There's no way to convince you?"

"Nope."

"And you're perfectly comfortable dying alone?"

He hesitates. "Yep."

The woman shakes her head to herself. "All right, dude. Good luck."

As she walks out the open door and leaves him alone, Jake begins to regret his words. "Wait, Kat? Kat? Don't leave me! Kat, don't leave me!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Whilst gossiping with Gina about how her sister finds her plumber 'very hot,' it doesn't take Katherine long to notice what is happening a few metres away from her. Actually, it doesn't take Gina long to notify her. "Hey," the older sibling hisses. Kat raises her eyebrows. "Ten o'clock." Following her line of sight, the women watch Rosa walk up to Charles' desk. "See, Kat, this is why I come to work."

"What about getting pai-"

"Shh."

Diaz harshly kicks the detective's chair, and Boyle spins around in a mixture of shock and a little fear. He tenses slightly at the female before him. "So, what movie did you get us tickets to?"

Gina leans over slightly to her sister. "What's she talking about?"

"Charles asked her out yesterday," Kat whispers back.

"Oh, well, just to be safe, I bought tickets to all of them," Charles boasts.

"Lord give him strength," Gina murmurs.

Rosa's eyes narrow. "Just to be safe? What does that mean?"

Kat begins to frantically wave her hands at her friend. Of course he doesn't spot her. "I don't know," Boyle replies hesitantly. "Uh, I didn't wanna mess up because you're sort of..." The waving and gestures reaches a new intensity. "Well... opinionated."

Gina clasps her hands together. "Here it comes."

"You think I'm opinionated? Okay, here's an opinion for you." Rosa leans over to plant her hands firmly down on his desk, and the sisters try to strain their hearing. Thankfully, Diaz seems to be making her opinion known fairly loudly. "You're a bad judge of character and your shirt looks like vomit."

Charles smacks his lips. "So we can go see North by Northwest-"

"We're not seeing a movie together."

Gina nudges Kat's shoulder. "Bet you're loving this," she mutters.

She scoffs. "Me? Why?"

"Oh, please, spare me the naivety."

"Good call," Charles replies calmly. "Smart. Keep it profresh!"

When he finally looks over to Gina's desk and spots the sisters already watching him, Gina gives him a thumbs up with a beaming smile, something he reciprocates. She moves to a thumbs down and blows a raspberry in disappointment, then mimics an explosion. Kat gives him a sympathetic smile. Next time, she mouths. Suddenly, herself and all her colleagues freeze.

"Santiago! Linetti! Boyle! Diaz! Get in here!"

They all share a look as they recognise the voice belongs to Holt.

"Bring everyone! And a camera!"

It's the last three words that send them into a flurry.

Very confused, Kat rushes behind Amy as they make their way to the records room where the eager yells had come from. She immediately snorts when she spots her best friend standing up from beside his desk, and the crowd of detectives form behind Captain Holt. Wearing nothing but a shirt, tie, and a brightly coloured speedo, Jake Peralta sheepishly smiles. "Oh, they're here..."

"Let's have a hand for the work of the fine master detective, Jake Peralta." The reactions are grins, cackles of laughter, and giggles. "Yeah, let's have a hand, everyone. Give him a hand," Holt encourages. The room bursts into applause.

"Yeah, nice!"

"Flaunt those legs, girl," Kat calls out. Behind her, Gina's taken out her phone and capturing the moment, no doubt to use as a Christmas card in the future.

As he realises that no one's leaving, Jake sighs and removes the file covering majority of his speedo. The cheering and applause increase in volume. He nods with a newfound pride when someone wolf whistles. "Yeah. Thank you."

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Seated inside Rosa's car in a parking lot, Kat makes an effort to stare out the windshield from the backseat as the two in the front converse. She feels like a third wheel. It's a stakeout. "Here," Rosa confesses, handing a wad of cash to Charles beside her. "I feel bad that you spent all that money on the movie tickets."

"Why don't you just go to the movies with me?" Charles counters back.

"Nope."

Rosa's answer is so quick, Kat feels a pang in her heart at how he deflates. He takes the cash. "Okay," he mutters.

"Boyle, I'll go to the movies with you."

Charles turns around in his seat to raise his eyebrows at his friend. "Really?"

She shrugs. "Yeah, why not?" He turns back around and smiles to himself. She catches Rosa's eyes in the mirror. "As friends," she states firmly.

The man looks repulsed at the thought of seeing her as anything more. "Kat, you're like my younger sister, please don't put that into my head. Plus, we all know you're a walking, talking rainbow." She rolls her eyes and her lips upturn. Rosa quietly laughs.

The car falls into a rather uncomfortable silence, but they don't have to suffer for much longer as Boyle's radio crackles to life.

"Ratko's in the building."

The three jump out the car and put on their bulletproof vests as they run toward the storage building.

"Ratko, great to see you," Jake greets dully.

The man continues to hold his firearm up at the detective as he slowly backs away. "You can't stop me. I'm going."

Jake holds his hand up as he follows. "Actually, you're not going anywhere. 'Cause if you take a look to your left, you'll see Detective's Boyle and Diaz. Right there is Detective's Linetti and Santiago. And behind you is Captain Holt. Point is... my team has you surrounded." All of a sudden, realisation hits Jake's face as he has an epiphany at the worst time possible. "Oh, my God, I just got the tie thing! Captain, I just figured it out."

Pointing his gun at Ratko down on one knee, Holt retorts, "Maybe now's not the best time, Detective."

"It's a uniform! We're a team, and the tie is a part of that team's uniform, right?"

The Serbian thug lowers his weapon and points to himself. "You ask Ratko what team?"

"No, Ratko, shut up," Jake dismisses. He continues to address Holt. "It's important to you because you were kept off the team for so long, and now you're the coach, and you want us to all wear that same uniform! Boom! Nailed it!"

Amy and Kat briefly glance to each other and can't help but smile at his excitement.

"Yes, you did," Holt confirms in exasperation. "Now just arrest Ratko."

Peralta quickly aims his gun back up at the murderer. "All right, Ratko, down. Drop the weapon," he orders. "Hands on your head. Here we go."

Ratko begins to lower himself to the ground to place his gun down, but at the very last second he darts down the hallway to the right, heading straight toward Amy and Kat.

"Hey!"

"He's running!"

Sanitago quickly removes her baton and smacks it into the criminal's kneecap, sending him tumbling to the ground with a groan. "Got him!"

"Hands behind your back!" Kat commands. As she grabs one of his arms, she notices Rosa bending down beside her to help. The two successfully handcuff him.

Jake blows out a breath of air as he watches. "That's how we do it in the Nine-Nine, sir. Catch bad guys and look good doing it." He winces.

The captain holsters his gun and studies the man. "What's wrong with you?"

"Never took off the speedo. Big mistake. It is inside me."

Kat glances over her shoulder to loudly exclaim, "That's what she said!"

"Great work, team!"

𝘞𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦

𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳!

𝘓𝘪𝘷 𝘹𝘹